Top 5 Inventions From Central New York

Where would we be without these all important inventions?

Lacrosse

Various Native American tribes throughout the Mohawk Valley and Central New York are credited for giving birth to what is referred to as modern day lacrosse. They called it "The Creator's Game" and the 2012 movie Crooked Arrows briefly recognized their accomplishment.

Lacrosse was given its name by early French settlers, using the generic term for any game played with a curved stick (crosse) and a ball. Native terminology, however, tends to describe more the technique (cf. Onondaga DEHUNTSHIGWA'ES, "men hit a rounded object") or, especially in the southeast, to underscore the game's aspects of war surrogacy ("little brother of war").

The Dentist Chair

It’s certainly not the most exciting creation out of Central New York, but can you imagine having a root canal while sitting upright in a regular old chair? I can't. The dentist would certainly have a difficult time navigating through our mouths at different precarious angles and unusual positions. I don't like the idea of having to face a masked man who wields a periodontal probe and tweezers unless I'm in a reclining seat.  We should all be grateful to Milton Waldo Hanchett from Syracuse. He patented the chair in 1840.

Serrated Knife

How in the world would we ever devour that delicious grilled steak if we only had a knife that was as dull as most of my jokes? Joseph Burns is credited for inventing this device back in 1940. He must have been pretty sharp!

His design featured small grooves or serrations perpendicular to the blade to make cutting bread easier in both directions. And don't forget the sequel: Burns also patented a "sharpening device for edged implements" in 1940.

Traffic Lights

Imagine if Thompson Road in Syracuse or Genesee Street in Utica didn't have those oh so annoying, yet all so important green, yellow, and red lights. Let's face it, some of the intersections in Central New York are confusing enough even with traffic lights. The notion of a busy city without them seems ludicrous and maddening! 

According to the Syracuse Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Crouse Hinds Company, started by Huntington Beard Crouse and Jesse Lorenzo Hinds in 1894, built the traffic light that was installed in Texas in 1921. The Salt City got its first traffic light three years later on the corner of State and James streets.

Time Clock

Hourly employees are thankful to jeweler Willard Bundy from Auburn. He successfully invented the "punch" clock back in 1888. Bundy's employees were the first to use this new time piece.  I used to work at the Grand Union in Middleburgh when I was in high school. I was required to "punch in and out" there. My mouth would always drop when I saw the size of my paycheck though because I was continually shorted by 6 or 7 hours. I kept forgetting to clock in!  William Bundy should have also invented the device that reminds hourly employees to punch in and out.

Just Jen and I talked about these inventions today!